First sale in
Paris
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
It was 1978
and I had taken the chance to be independent and
follow my dream to be an ‘antique’
dealer between Paris and London. Without any
knowledge and with only £200 to spend on stock,
I put my best foot forward as the saying goes.
I had collected an assortment of ‘junk’
from Liverpool. A hand carved wooden spoon of a
bare breasted woman, two silver bekers from the
Friday night dinner table, made of Russian silver.
A vintage silver charm bracelet. A cribbage board
and a coronation tin with the Queen’s head.
Monique and Catherine Applestein oy vey came to
my flat to view my ‘stock’. Catherine
bought the bekers and Monique the bracelet. I
undersold of course. They were professional, I
was not! Catherine was to tell me years later
that she dined well on the profit!
The rest of the story is a snowball. I was
recommended to show the salad server to the
manager of a posh shop that sold canes and
umbrellas in boulevard St Germain. It was not
erotic enough for his taste but he had a small
stock of mint jumping monkeys from the 50’s
and gave me a sample to start me off on the road
to fame!
Somehow I discovered Rue Niepce and the robot and
vintage toy shop of Pierre Bogarde who gave me an
order for all the monkeys and asked me to find
him Huntley and Palmer Figural biscuit tins. I
was in business! Next he asked me how sold my
‘stock’ and I said I didn’t have
an outlet. He was very kind and said that since
he had the shop, he had no need for his patented
stand on Saturday morning at the Marche Montreuil
and I could have it.
My professional life changed overnight as I
became ‘chaperone rouge’ little red
riding hood because I wore a red beret! I was the
only English dealer in the market and over time
met all the collectors and fellow dealers. I had
followed my dream.
I was quick to learn. My second sale was to Jane
Bouvard who I had met at the Bastille antiques
fair. I was attracted to a solitaire board and
through her, I became overnight a games and
puzzle specialist. Jane asked me to supply her
with treen games. I, after an induction, learnt
what to look for and what to charge knowing that
the French trebbled. She had aquired a shop in
the 5th district and turned it into a
Phantasy world to escape to.
One day I bought a travelling mahogany games set
for £50 and wanted to treble. Jane refused it so
I went to even more sophisticated shop in the rue
Jacob. Madame bought it for £150 and asked me to
bring in more games and chess sets. I became an
international games specialist for the next 30
years between Paris and London. I had no
competition for 15 years and this knowledge led
to branching out into conjuring, the circus and
its allied arts my favourite subject was
PreCinema which still interests me today.
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